OHR Presents: Thom Bresh

Ozark Highlands Radio is a weekly radio program that features live music and interviews recorded at Ozark Folk Center State Park’s beautiful 1,000-seat auditorium in Mountain View, Ark. In addition to the music, our “Feature Host” segments carry listeners through the Ozark hills with historians, authors and personalities who explore the people, stories, and history of the Ozark region. On this week’s show, thumb picking guitar legacy Thom Bresh performs live at Ozark Folk Center State Park. Also, folklorist and author Charley Sandage offers an historical peregrination into Ozark culture, and Mark Jones presents an archival recording of Ozark original Greg Moody. Thom Bresh has led an incredible, multi-faceted life in the entertainment business. To start, his birth father is guitar royalty, Merle Travis. Thom was raised in California during the golden age of television and worked as a stuntman/actor during his youth. He went on to become one of the premier practitioners of his fathers “thumbpicking” style of guitar. Harnessing a quick wit and an equally quick set of ten fingers, there is nothing like a Thom Bresh performance. Seriously. Author, folklorist, and songwriter Charley Sandage presents an historical portrait of the people, events, and indomitable spirit of Ozark culture that resulted in the creation of the Ozark Folk Center State Park and an enduring legacy of music and craft. Mark Jones' “From the Vault” segment features a rare recording of Greg Moody singing the traditional folk song “Going Down This Road Feeling Bad,” from the Ozark Folk Center State Park archives.